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Chapter 120
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Moby-Dick, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Limits of Knowledge
Fate and Free Will
Nature and Man
Race, Fellowship, and Enslavement
Madness
Religion
Summary
Analysis
Stubb and Flask bring in the anchors upon Ahab’s order, and Stubb and Flask remark to one another that it seems “the anchors won’t be used again” on the voyage, implying that Ahab now will pursue his quest without cease. Flask tells Stubb he is worried that devils and evil spirits have taken over the ship, but Stubb, still joking even in this time of danger, remarks to him that the devils would be “soaked” by all the spray of the sea.
This is the third time in the novel that the mates are discussing the possible “devilish possession” of their captain (who conceives of himself as chasing the devilish Moby Dick). Stubb's joking response to Flask's worries indicate his careless attitude. He doesn't really care who's running the ship, or how crazy or dangerous the orders are, as long as he gets to kill whales.
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